Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom

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3 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Martha Oesch T r a i n i n g C o n s u lta n t Carol Bower D i r e c t o r o f N o r t h e a s t S A B E S at N o r t h e r n E S s e x C o m m u n i t y C o l l e g e NATIONAL COLLEGE TRANSITION NETWORK A PART OF WORLD EDUCATION, INC.

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5 Table of Contents List of Handouts 8 Acknowledgements 9 Foreword 10 How to Use This Guide 12 Section I: The Cultural Context for Career Awareness Lesson 1: Icebreaker: Who Did What? 16 handout: Learning About Your Classmates: Who Did Which Job? 17 Lesson 2: Looking at How We Get Jobs 18 handout: How People Get Jobs 20 Lesson 3: Job Qualifications 21 Lesson 4: What Do You Think? 23 Lesson 5: The Influence of Family and Friends 25 Section II: The Self-Exploration Process Lesson 1: The Career Planning Process 28 handout: Career Planning Model 31 Lesson 2: Identifying Hopes and Dreams 32 Lesson 3: Introduction to Goal Setting 34 handout: Student Goal Scenarios 36 handout: Worksheet for Student Goal Scenarios 37 Lesson 4: We All Have Transferable Skills 38 handout: Reading Guide for Jesusita Navarro 40 Lesson 5 Part 1: Making a Life Line 42 handout: Life Line Presentation Guide 44 Part 2: Things I Have Done 45 handout: Things I Have Done 46 handout: Student Future Timeline 47 Lesson 6: Things I Like 48 handout: Things I Like 49 Lesson 7: Identifying Skills 50 handout: Skills Identification 51 Lesson 8: Things I Am Good At 53 handout: Things I Am Good At 54 handout: List of 246 Skills as Verbs 55 Lesson 9: Skills Auction 56 Lesson 10: Identifying Job Values 58 handout: Job Values Inventory 60 handout: Work Values Clarification 61 Lesson 11: Prioritizing Job Values 62 handout: Job Values Inventory Summary 64

6 Lesson 12 Part 1: Putting It All Together Interests, Skills, and Values 65 Part 2: Matching Skills, Interests, and Values to Occupations 67 Section III: Occupational Exploration Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 70 handout: Career Exploration on the Internet, A 72 handout: Career Exploration on the Internet, B 74 handout: Career Exploration on the Internet, C 75 Lesson 2: Labor Market Trends and Information 79 handout: Finding Labor Market Information on the Internet 80 Lesson 3: Informational Interviews 81 handout: Informational Interview Guide 83 handout: Informational Interview Log 85 Lesson 4: Job Fairs/Career Fairs 86 Lesson 5: Career Ladders 89 Lesson 6: Workers Rights 91 handout: Workers Rights Vocabulary 93 handout: Discrimination and Equal Rights Protections 94 handout: Labor Unions 95 Section IV: Career Planning Skills Lesson 1: Reality Checking 98 Lesson 2: What Do I Need to Earn? 99 handout: Self-Sufficiency Standard Worksheet 101 Lesson 3: Overcoming Obstacles 102 Lesson 4: Different Types of Decision Making 104 handout: Types of Decision Making 105 Lesson 5: Setting Goals 106 handout: About Setting Goals 107 handout: Setting SMART Goals 109 handout: SMART Goal Worksheet 110 Lesson 6: Support Systems 112 Lesson 7: Problem Solving 113 handout: Problem-Solving Worksheet 114 Lesson 8: Learning Styles 115 handout: Study Strategies by Learning Style 117 Lesson 9: College Awareness Assessment 119 handout: College Awareness Assessment 120 Lesson 10: College Vocabulary handout: College Vocabulary handout: Jeopardy Game Example 127 Lesson 11: Smart Consumer of Education 128 handout: Be a Smart Consumer of Education 130 Lesson 12: Exploring Options for Further Education 132 handout: What are My Options? 134 handout: Private Occupational School Students 135

7 handout: Proprietary Schools 136 handout: Comparing Schools: What s Important To You? 137 Lesson 13: The Admissions Process and College Placement Tests 138 handout: Learning About the Admissions Process 140 handout: Learning About College Placement Tests 142 handout: Additional Information on Placement Testing 143 handout: Types of College Placement Tests 146 handout: Additional Information on Admissions 147 Lesson 14: Navigating College: College Websites 148 handout: Navigating College Websites: Online Scavenger Hunt 149 Lesson 15: Navigating College: College Representatives 151 Lesson 16: Navigating College: Campus Tours 152 handout: Campus Map Checklist 153 handout: Campus Scavenger Hunt 154 Lesson 17: College Success Skills 157 handout: College Success Skills 158 Lesson 18: Self Advocacy for College Success 159 handout: Don t Take No for an Answer 161 Lesson 19: Financial Aid Resources 163 Lesson 20: Needs Versus Wants 165 handout: Needs Versus Wants Worksheet 166 Lesson 21: Tracking Your Money 167 handout: Spending Diary Daily 168 handout: Spending Diary Monthly Summary 169 Lesson 22: Creating a Spending Plan 170 handout: Identifying Your Income 172 handout: Monthly Expenses Worksheet 173 Lesson 23: Dealing with Credit Issues 175 handout: Manage Your Credit Reports 176 Lesson 24: Career and Education Planning 177 handout: Career and Education Planning Worksheet 179 Appendix A: Lesson Planning Guide to Lesson Planning Template 183 Sample ABE Lesson Plan 184 Sample ESOL Lesson Plan 186 Handout: Lesson Planning Template 188 Appendix B: SCANS Competencies 189 Appendix C: Correlation of Lessons with Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks 191 Appendix D: Multicultural Career Education and Development 203 Appendix E: Career Awareness Resources 207

8 Handouts All of the handouts are listed in the order that they appear in the curriculum lessons. You can download and save the handouts to your own computer so that you can modify and print them. To download a handout, go to the folder titled Handouts on the curriculum CD. Within the handout folder, you ll find a sub folder for each section of the curriculum containing all of the handouts from that section. Section I: The Cultural Context for Career Awareness Learning About Your Classmates: Who Did Which Job? How People Get Jobs Section II: The Self-Exploration Process Career Planning Model Student Goal Scenarios Worksheet for Student Goal Scenarios Reading Guide for Jesusita Navarro Life Line Presentation Guide Things I Have Done Student Future Timeline Things I Like Skills Identification Things I Am Good At List of 246 Skills as Verbs Job Values Inventory Work Values Clarification Job Values Inventory Summary Section III: Occupational Exploration Career Exploration on the Internet, A Career Exploration on the Internet, B Career Exploration on the Internet, C Finding Labor Market Information on the Internet Informational Interview Guide Informational Interview Log Workers Rights Vocabulary Discrimination and Equal Rights Protections Labor Unions Section IV: Career Planning Skills Self-Sufficiency Standard Worksheet Types of Decision Making About Setting Goals Setting SMART Goals SMART Goal Worksheet Problem-Solving Worksheet Study Strategies by Learning Style College Awareness Assessment College Vocabulary 101 Jeopardy Game Example Be a Smart Consumer of Education What are My Options? Private Occupational School Students Proprietary Schools Comparing Schools: What s Important to You? Learning About the Admissions Process Learning About College Placement Tests Additional Information on Placement Testing Types of College Placement Tests Additional Information on Admissions Navigating College Websites: Online Scavenger Hunt Campus Map Checklist Campus Scavenger Hunt College Success Skills Don t Take No for an Answer Needs Versus Wants Worksheet Spending Diary Daily Spending Diary Monthly Summary Identifying Your Income Monthly Expenses Worksheet Manage Your Credit Reports Career and Education Planning Worksheet Appendix A: Lesson Planning Lesson Planning Template Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Handouts 8

9 Acknowledgements We are grateful for the input and technical assistance we received from Janet Fischer, Shirley Lyon, and Janet Piracha of Northeast SABES at Northern Essex Community College and Heidi Perez, Training Consultant. We would also like to thank the members of the planning committee that helped shape this curriculum: Laurie Sheridan, SABES Central Resource Center at World Education; Cathy Gannon, Central SABES at Quinsigamond Community College; Andrea Perrault, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; and Mark Whitmore, North Shore Career Center. Sandra Darling, Librarian of the SABES Literacy Library at Boston SABES and the Adult Literacy Resource Institute of the University of Massachusetts Boston, compiled the Career Awareness Resources. Many ABE and ESOL practitioners participated in focus groups that helped us better understand the needs of the field and develop a more responsive curriculum. Sandy Goodman, Director of the New England College Transition Project, edited this version of the curriculum and contributed to the development and content of Section IV on Career Planning Skills. The National College Transition Network (NCTN) shared materials from its College Transition Toolkit. Information about the College Transition Toolkit can be found at Initial funding for this project was provided to SABES by the Massachusetts Department of Education Adult and Community Learning Services. Additional lessons pertaining to college transitions in Section IV were funded jointly by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. The design and printing of this edition were provided by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Acknowledgements 9

10 Foreword It has been well-established that most jobs that pay family sustaining wages require some postsecondary education. This trend is expected to grow over the coming decades. In response, the National College Transition Network (NCTN) was founded at World Education to bridge the gap between what Adult Basic Education (ABE), Adult Secondary Education (ASE), GED, or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs traditionally offer and what most nontraditional learners need to succeed in postsecondary education. One of the issues we hear repeatedly from adult education teachers, counselors, and administrators around the country is that they need more tools and training to help students think about and plan for life beyond the GED or beyond English proficiency. Adult learners career awareness is typically informed by whatever exposure they have had to the world of work through personal experience, family, and friends. Often, this means they re not aware of nor encouraged to explore their own potential for upgrading their skills and moving out of entry-level, low-wage jobs. Adult educators should be equipped to teach learners how to find and interpret labor market research and investigate information about training and educational programs and requirements. In addition, educators can play a significant role by encouraging learners to explore, identify, and cultivate their own interests, skills, and work values, and aim for jobs that require greater skill and pay family sustaining wages. When SABES, the System for Adult Basic Education Support (the Massachusetts ABE professional development organization), released the Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE and ESOL Classroom (ICA) curriculum guide, we recognized it as a valuable resource. The goal of the curriculum is to encourage all students, at all levels, to begin thinking about and articulating short- and long-term career, educational and life goals. It provides classroom-ready, flexible lessons, handouts, and online resources to prepare instructors and counselors to guide students through a supportive, realistic career awareness and planning process that encourages students to identify and tap their often unspoken dreams. Because the focus of NCTN is on transitions to postsecondary education, we worked with SABES staff to expand the section on Career Planning Skills to include additional lessons and activities for students to research and navigate postsecondary programs that serve their career goals. However, it is important to emphasize that this curriculum was designed for ABE and intermediate level ESOL students as well as ASE/GED students. In the College Transition context, it can be seen as helping programs to grow their own future college transition students. Before launching this curriculum nationally, we had the opportunity to pilot it in New England with funding from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. The New England Career Awareness Pilot gave adult education instructors and counselors the opportunity to explore the career planning process using the Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE and ESOL Classroom (ICA) curriculum. Pilot activities included a daylong workshop to introduce the curriculum, followed by a six-week online course for instructors and counselors who wanted to delve more deeply into the curriculum and develop a plan for piloting the curriculum in their classroom and counseling activities. In addition to testing the curriculum, we wanted to test a professional development model featuring a sustained process of study, planning, and implementation activities with the support of a group of peers and experts. In this case, the curriculum authors, Martha Oesch and Carol Bower, served as training facilitators and project advisors. Too often new materials, no matter how well received, end up sitting unused on practitioners desks because they don t have adequate time to plan for integrating them into their curriculum. In this case, practitioners made a six-month commitment and were supported with a stipend so that they could devote time to planning and Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Foreword 10

11 integrating the material. We received valuable feedback from pilot participants that informed revisions and additions to this edition of the curriculum. The response to the curriculum and the online course has been extremely positive: The Career Awareness Curriculum is wonderful, and the course helped me to focus and appreciate how the lessons could be used in my classroom. The lesson planning activities were especially useful! The course is 100% applicable to my work in adult education! It gave me access to up-to-date resources and equipped me to help my students move forward with a comprehensive career planning process. This course was right on target. The content and facilitation were fabulous! Because New England practitioners have found the online course Integrating Career Awareness so valuable, NCTN will be launching it nationally in late The course prepares participants for implementing a sequence of career planning lessons in their classroom or counseling activities. The course also guides participants through a series of activities to help them gain familiarity with online and community resources used in the career planning lessons so that they can present these lessons to students with greater confidence and knowledge of the local context. For more information about the Integrating Career Awareness online professional development course or to order additional copies of this curriculum, write to literacy@worlded.org. For more information about NCTN, see Sandy Goodman Director, New England College Transition Project National College Transition Network Boston, Massachusetts Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Foreword 11

12 How to Use This Guide Who is this Guide for? Designed to be used by teachers and counselors in ASE, ABE, ESOL, and College Transition programs this curriculum helps students understand and act on the critical link between education and careers. If your program seeks to support students to make and reach career goals, this curriculum is for you. It will not only help motivate students to keep attending a specific class, but also to persist in pursuing their education over time. What is Career Awareness? Career awareness is an essential life skill that allows people to become more self-reliant and able to cope with rapidly changing labor markets as well as maintain a healthy balance between work and life roles. By developing career awareness, students can play an active role in planning their careers. Career planning is itself a process of self-discovery that helps students identify what they are good at; understand how their skills, talents, and interests translate into work; and find the education and training they need to work in the existing job market. This career awareness curriculum will guide learners through a process that helps them set career goals, secure the educational services they need to pursue their goals, and thrive in the changing economy. Career Planning Model This curriculum follows a career planning model that includes: Self-exploration Skills Values Experience Interests Education A Flexible Curriculum Occupational Exploration Occupational and job profiles Informational interviews Career and job fairs Labor market information Career and Education Planning Decision making Goal setting College success skills Action planning The curriculum covers the complete career planning process in depth so that learners can get the full range of skills and understanding that they need to pursue career goals. While the curriculum covers a large amount of material, there are many different ways you can adapt it to fit your classroom or program. For example, you can integrate the curriculum into a standard ABE/ESOL class, or you could use it as the basis for a course on career awareness. You can also use it in one-onone counseling sessions or group counseling workshops. We encourage you to let learners interests and needs guide your choices about which parts of the curriculum to use. The language level of the lesson activities is designed to be accessible for an ESOL SPL 4 5. Depending on the language level and background of the students, a unit that might be completed in one session in some classrooms, may need more time in other classrooms. Because of this variability between the ABE and the ESOL classroom, we do not include time guidelines for the activities. To give the curriculum maximum flexibility, we have designed the handouts so that you can use them as they are or modify them to meet the needs of your classroom. For example, you might want to add local information, include pictorial graphics to aid lower-level ESOL students, or break an activity into smaller steps. You will find Word versions of these documents in the folder labeled Handouts, which you can download and modify as you choose. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Introduction 12

13 The Curriculum Structure The curriculum is divided into four sections: I The Cultural Context for Career Awareness II The Self-Exploration Process III Occupational Exploration IV Career and Education Planning Skills Each section is divided into lessons. Each lesson outlines the Topic, Learning Objectives, Materials Needed, and Vocabulary. Some lessons may require a prior vocabulary-building lesson. At the end of each Lesson, we include Extension Activities, which are designed to provide additional ideas or material to cover the topic. Curriculum Standards Each lesson is correlated with the Secretary s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). These standards delineate transferable skills identified by employers as essential for entry-level jobs. As described by the US Department of Labor, these standards formulate a new framework for workplace skills based on three components: The functional skills that describe what people actually do at work; the enabling skills, that is, the specific knowledge and procedures developed through the traditional teaching and learning activities of schools; and the scenario, a communication device to demonstrate the way in which work integrates these skills into a productive outcome. A copy of the SCANS competencies are in the Appendix. For more information, go to the website: Because this curriculum was originally developed for ABE and ESOL programs in Massachusetts, each lesson was correlated to the Massachusetts ABE and ESOL Curriculum Frameworks. While the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks themselves may not be relevant to programs in other states, the process of identifying and standardizing competencies and articulating the correlation to specific lessons and activities is. We have included the Massachusetts standards associated with each lesson in the Appendix in the hope that they will be helpful to the process of incorporating this curriculum into your larger curriculum. For a full copy of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, go to the website: Career and Education Plan Using the Portfolio We strongly encourage teachers and counselors to assist students in developing a Career Planning portfolio using the activities and handouts in this guide as a starting place. Introduce the Career and Education Planning worksheet to students early in the process of implementing the curriculum. (You can find this worksheet in Section IV, Lesson 24, Career and Education Planning.) Explain to students that the Career and Education Plan is what they are working towards by doing activities from the curriculum. You can point out that they will be completing sections a little at a time as they participate in the career planning process in class. The worksheet notes what sections of the curriculum correspond to what sections of the Career and Education Plan. The Career and Education Plan worksheet is a guide they can take with them and revise it over time as they learn more about occupations and their interests. This worksheet, along with other handouts in the curriculum, can comprise a student s portfolio. The portfolio is a portable description of a student s skills, interests, and educational and occupational goals. The portfolio can serve as an effective tool for students as they advocate for themselves in both educational and occupational arenas. Lesson Planning Template To help you plan which lessons to use from the curriculum, we have included a Lesson Planning Template, which you will find in Appendix A. The Template is a means to identify what lessons you will use and any modifications you plan to make, preparation needed for those lessons, and how the lessons tie into curriculum standards already in use in your program. Feedback from teachers and counselors who have taken the time to use the Lesson Planning Template is that it helped them better organize what they want to do and be better prepared to implement the curriculum. We have also included sample Lesson Planning Templates for ABE and ESOL classes in Appendix A. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Introduction 13

14 Lessons from the Field Since the first edition of this curriculum was distributed, we have been fortunate to receive feedback from teachers and counselors participating in the New England Career Awareness pilot project. The response to the curriculum from teachers who tested the pilot version has been overwhelmingly positive. Teachers especially enjoy the curriculum s flexibility, which allows them to do their own thing in the classroom at the same time they feel supported by the assortment of lessons using a range of learning strategies, excellent extension activities, and the overall structure which is easy to use. One of the clearest lessons is that teachers and counselors working together as a team to implement the curriculum across a program is an effective strategy. Using the curriculum, teachers and counselors have found new and creative ways to work together in supporting students progress toward career goals. While it takes substantial planning and coordination time to integrate lessons into the classroom and counseling activities, teachers and counselors report that it is time well spent. Counselors and programs report using the curriculum in one-on-one meetings with students, often as a follow-up to classroom career awareness activities. Another strategy that these teachers and counselors recommended is to start with the section of the curriculum that is most engaging to your students and then work your way backward or forward to the lessons that will fill gaps in the planning process. This strategy seems especially effective when working with teens and young adults who may not see the relevance of career planning. Teachers working with this age group suggest starting with computer and internet related activities to engage the students in a medium they may know well. Another suggestion is to bring together teens, young adults, and older adults in intergenerational classrooms where the experience and wisdom of older adults helps overcome the younger students reluctance to plan for the future. What are the ways you might collaborate with other program staff to prepare for and/or deliver these lessons? In one program, language arts and computer skills instructors teamed up to work on the lessons involving use of the Internet. Another instructor set the groundwork for some of the lessons and the counselor followed up by scheduling individual appointments to help students complete self assessment and goal setting activities. Teachers in another program introduced a series of lessons tailored to their own class levels and jointly organized a series of program-wide career planning workshops and guest speakers for all of their students to attend together. A Note about Cultural Concepts for Teachers While developing this curriculum, we held several focus groups with ABE and ESOL teachers. These teachers identified a strong need to have both teachers and students understand the cultural context for career awareness in the United States. This includes understanding how each person s worldview is influenced by cultural heritage and life experiences. Without this understanding and appreciation of differences, the teachers and students may not be able to fully engage with the curriculum in a way that meets students needs. We strongly recommend that teachers read the article Multicultural Career Education and Development in the Appendix. This article provides a brief overview of the role of cultural identity in career development, summarizes techniques for multicultural career development, and addresses issues in a multicultural approach. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Introduction 14

15 Section I The Cultural Context for Career Awareness

16 L e s s o n 1 Icebreaker: Who Did What? Learning Objective To have students learn about the career experiences or ambitions of other students in their class Materials Needed handout: Learning About Your Classmates A week ahead of time, ask students to write the name of a job they did in their home country or that they have now in the U.S. If a student has never worked in his/her home country or in the U.S., ask the student to write a job that they would like to have. Or, interview students individually to ask and record the answer to this question. Then make up a list of the job titles on the grid, Learning About Your Classmates: Who Did Which Job? Students may want or need to use picture dictionaries. Vocabulary career, job, basic job titles that students in class may have held (teacher, doctor, nurse, clerk, secretary, salesperson, farmer, mechanic, weaver, childcare provider, etc.) SCANS Competencies Information: Acquires and evaluates information Basic Skills: Listening; Speaking Instructions for Conducting the Activity Tell the students that they are going to learn about each other by learning more about the jobs that students have currently, have had, or would like to have. Distribute the handout to each student. Only the job titles are filled in on the grid. This is a question-asking activity. Start with one student and have the others ask him/her yes or no questions about his/her job. Based on the answers, the rest of the students guess which job the student held or holds. Students fill in the grid as they go. Ask students to write down any other questions they might have about the job in the last column. For discussion, have students share their questions about the different jobs and see how many of them can be answered. Also, discuss the variety of jobs held or desired. Extension Activities 1. Pre- and post-activity lessons can focus on vocabulary building and modeling how to ask questions. This is especially helpful for ESOL classes. 2. The concepts presented can be revisited throughout a teaching cycle. For example, lessons can be spread out over a week or two, focusing on a different job each day. 3. You can target a grammar function relevant to ongoing work in the classroom. Decide which part of the chart will be used for asking questions. For example, either the job is left blank, or the names of students are left blank. Then provide a grammar lesson on the function identified and has the students practice writing a few questions. After this, you can use the chart for a communication activity. You can choose a section of the chart based on the level of the students. For example, a higher-level ESOL class can ask questions about the job, while a lower-level ESOL class can practice filling in the names of students by asking, Were you a secretary? or Are you an artist? 4. Have students look for feature articles in the paper about some of the jobs or look for help wanted ads. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 1: Icebreaker: Who Did What? 16

17 Learning About Your Classmates: Who Did Which Job? Job Title Which student did this job or would like to do this job? What else would you like to know about this job? Learning About Your Classmates: Who Did Which Job? Section I: Cultural Context, Lesson 1 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 1: Icebreaker: Who Did What? 17

18 L e s s o n 2 Looking at How We Get Jobs Learning Objective To identify and explore student s awareness of self and culture in relation to career exploration Materials Needed Alta Language Builder: Occupation Cards or magazines to cut up handout: How People Get Jobs Vocabulary culture, career exploration, want ads, interviews, college, university, word-of-mouth, job application, resume, skills, training SCANS Competencies Systems: Understands systems Information: Interprets and communicates information Basic Skills: Listening Instructions for Conducting the Activity Note: ESOL teachers will need to focus on vocabulary building as a pre-activity lesson. Tell students they are going to learn more about each other and themselves by looking at the different types of jobs people have had in their home country or the US. ESOL teachers can post lists of vocabulary around the room to facilitate the activity. Spread around the Language Builder Occupation Cards and ask students to identify 2 3 jobs that friends and family had/have in their home country or in the US. If not using the Occupation Cards, have magazines for students to look through and cut out pictures of people doing these jobs. Or, students can draw a picture of a job on blank paper. Once each student has identified 2 3 jobs, go around and ask them to name the jobs while the teacher writes the job titles on the board. Note next to each job which countries these are in. Below are follow-up questions to ask and record responses (could have different pieces of paper for each job or have columns so it makes it easier to compare the answers). You can focus on one or both groups of questions depending on the level of the class. An alternative method for the ESOL classroom is to have students pair up and practice asking and answering the questions below instead of having a large group discussion. Getting a job How do people get jobs in your home country and/or in the US? Is it by word-of-mouth? Referrals by relatives or friends? Apply through the paper? Apply online? Does the government tell you what job you can have? Do you have to fill out an application? Do you need a resume? Do you have to have an interview? Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 2: Looking at How We Get Jobs 18

19 Education and Training What kind of education or training (if any) is needed for these jobs? Do you have to be a high school graduate? Do you need education beyond high school? How much? Do you have to have a certificate or degree? Wrap up this discussion by pointing out the differences and similarities of answers for different countries. Emphasize that the students come with unique experiences and understandings of how people get jobs. Explain that the class will be looking at these jobs in another lesson. Extension Activities 1. In an ESOL class, you can ask students what they know about how people in the US get the same type of jobs, the education and training needed, and how to access the education and training. This can be a way to identify gaps or misperceptions in students knowledge of how the US labor market works. Other lessons can then be planned around these gaps. 2. Distribute the survey, How People Get Jobs and ask students to interview 5 9 people about how they got their job and to record the information by putting check marks in the boxes. If the group is hesitant about interviewing, the teacher can role-play an interview. The homework activity below helps students, both ESOL and ABE, identify how people get jobs in the US. 2. As a follow-up to the homework, have students report back on what they learned in their interviews as to the ways people got jobs and then combine the information to make a list of all the ways people reported getting a job and noting how many reported each. Discuss things from the list the participants can use to help get a job, for instance, filing an application and then calling to check on it; and which might only be available to a few people, like knowing about a position from a family member. Based on an activity from Personal Management: An Integrated Curriculum, Patti McLaughlin, Curriculum Developer, Adult Basic and Literacy Educators Network of Washington, Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 2: Looking at How We Get Jobs 19

20 Name and Country Job How People Get Jobs How did you get your job? What kind of education or training did you need? Word of Mouth? Referrals from friends or relatives? Apply by paper or on-line? The government told you? Did you have to fill out an application? Resume? Did you have an interview? High school graduate or GED? Skills training or certificate program? AA Degree? BA/BS Degree? How People Get Jobs Section I: Cultural Context, Lesson 2 Page 1 Graduate degree? Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 2: Looking at How We Get Jobs 20

21 L e s s o n 3 Job Qualifications Learning Objective To set the stage for an understanding that all jobs have requirements and that there are some barriers to jobs that are systemic such as institutionalized racism, sexism, and classism Materials Needed Alta Language Builder: Occupation Cards or magazines to cut up, examples of help wanted ads from the newspaper or Internet. Vocabulary job qualifications, barriers, systemic, job application, resume, skills, training, job advancement, discrimination, racism, sexism, classism, wage/rate of pay, networking, institutionalized SCANS Competencies Interpersonal: Participates as a member of a team; Negotiates Information: Organizes and maintains information Instructions for Conducting the Activity Choose 2 3 of the occupations identified by students in the previous lesson and list each on a separate piece of flipchart paper and post. Explain to students that in the last lesson they learned about the many different ways that people find and get jobs. All jobs require that the person doing the job have certain qualifications or skills. Start with one of the occupations posted and ask the class to brainstorm the qualifications or skills needed for the job and record the answers on the flipchart paper. Repeat this for the other occupations posted to help students understand the concept of what is meant by qualifications. Explain that all jobs have such qualifications. These qualifications help employers screen applications and resumes for those people who, at a minimum, have these skills. For discussion, ask students: What happens if you apply for a job and you don t have those qualifications or skills? You may not get called for an interview. If you are interviewed, the employer may discover that you don t have the skills and so not hire you. The employer may ask you why you applied for the job knowing you didn t have the skills. Explain that some things that help you to get a job are within your control. However, there are other things that can be barriers to getting a job that are not within your control. Distribute to students a list of the following factors that are in a mixed order. Factors within your control: Getting the education and training needed Having previous work experience with transferable skills that you can talk about Talking to others who are in similar jobs to learn more about the required skills Having complete and accurate job applications and resumes Showing up on time for interviews Sending thank-you letters Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 3: Job Qualifications 21

22 Having a positive attitude Having good references Factors not within your control: Age (Some employers don t want to hire youth or older workers.) Weight (May not want to hire large people.) Race/ethnicity (May want to hire employees of a particular race or ethnicity.) Gender (May want to hire only men or women.) (For ESOL classes, allow the students time with dictionaries in small groups to look up words they don t know or time to ask the teacher questions about the meanings.) Then, either up on the board in one large group, or individually at tables, students categorize which factors are within one s control and which are not. Students can either write them in the correct list or the teacher can prepare sentence strips ahead of time and students can manipulate them into the correct place. As the class shares its answers to what factors are or are not in one s control, the topics of discrimination and prejudice will arise. Extension Activities 1. Use a word mapping activity to help students understand the difference between prejudice and discrimination, as it is legally defined. Prejudice refers to preconceived negative beliefs, attitudes, or feelings. Discrimination refers to actions or behaviors that may be based on prejudices. Discrimination is illegal in many cases, but prejudice is not. Key words are a way to help students brainstorm their thoughts, feelings, and experiences about something. This activity invites students to share their experiences of unfair treatment, and to understand the difference between prejudice and discrimination. To begin, write the word prejudice on the blackboard and ask students to offer their reactions. It may look like this: violence racism no good reasons bad ideas fear prejudice against Blacks, immigrants, Arabs, Jews, low-income, etc. getting worse attitudes from home, TV, society Then do the same using the word discrimination, understanding that the maps may overlap quite a bit. The students understanding of what discrimination is may not be correct, but that is for them to discover as they read about and discuss discrimination. affirmative action at work discrimination keeping people down illegal prejudice bad attitudes the same everywhere Then discuss the two word maps. How are the two the same? Different? 2. Another follow-up activity is to have students tell their stories. In small groups, give students the opportunity to talk about their experiences with prejudice and discrimination. Which one was it? Why did it happen? As they report back to the larger group, the teacher lists experiences (briefly) on the board. A variation is to have students write in journals about a time they have experienced prejudice or discrimination. Adapted from A Curriculum Packet about Immigration-Related Job Discrimination, Andrea Nash and Peggy Wright, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition and the Office of Special Counsel, October Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 3: Job Qualifications 22

23 L e s s o n 4 What Do You Think? We recommend that this lesson not be done as a stand-alone. It works best when done in sequence with Section I, Lessons 1 3. Learning Objective To identify and explore students awareness of self and one s own culture, racism, sexism, economic status, and individual differences as they relate to career exploration Materials Needed Alta Language Builder: Occupation Cards or magazines to cut up Vocabulary culture, career exploration, want ads, interviews, college, university, word-of-mouth, job application, resume, skills, training, job advancement, discrimination, racism, sexism, wage/rate of pay, networking, qualifications SCANS Competencies Personal Qualities: Integrity/Honesty; Self-esteem Basic Skills: Speaking Instructions for Conducting the Activity This activity encourages people to identify and discuss their beliefs. It prepares the students to learn more about discrimination at work by exploring their own attitudes about the role of immigrants in the workforce. You, the teacher, should participate, too, taking the same risks in sharing as the students. To begin, put sheets of paper labeled Disagree and Not Sure in various parts of the room. The teacher reads (or writes on the board) a statement from the list below. Everyone moves toward the card that represents his/her response to the statement, literally taking a stand as they commit to a position. At least one person representing each position is invited to state his/her opinion, prompting discussion and possible reshuffling as people change their minds or modify their views. Students can add further statements to the list. Statements: 1. It s fair to hire only people who speak English. 2. Employers like to hire immigrants. 3. Immigrants take jobs away from native-born Americans. 4. It s fair to give jobs to native-born Americans first. 5. Add your own: Extension Activities 1. This activity is good for students who are working. As in Section I, Lesson 3, choose 5 7 of the occupations identified by students and list each on a separate piece of flipchart paper and post. In an ESOL class, try to choose at least one occupation from each country represented in the classroom. Explain to students that they will have a chance to learn about the many different ways that people find and get jobs in different countries, to learn that all jobs have skill qualifications, and that sometimes there are barriers to jobs that students cannot control. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 4: What Do You Think? 23

24 In this lesson, the students are going to explore further some of the barriers to getting jobs, which they may have already experienced or which they may experience. Point to one of the occupations and ask the student(s) who identified that occupation to answer the following questions about the occupation. Record the answers on the flipchart paper: Can both men and women get these jobs? All ethnicities/races? Physical ability? Rich/poor? Are there certain jobs that only some people are allowed to do/apply for? Why? How do you move up or advance in the occupation? How do you find another job? What are the wages of these jobs? Are both men and women paid the same? Record responses for all the occupations. Identify instances of racism, sexism, or other forms of discrimination in employment. Note that these forms of discrimination limit career choices. Point out that discrimination exists when applying for jobs in the US. Turn the discussion to what jobs are like in the United States. Facilitate a discussion by asking the following questions and recording responses: If the students are already working: What kind of jobs do the students have? How did they get these jobs? How is getting a job/doing a job search similar or different than in their home country? If the students are not working: What kind of jobs do their friends and family have here in the United States? How did they get these jobs? How long did it take to get these jobs? What kinds of skills are needed for these jobs? Do the students think there are some jobs in the US that only some people are allowed to do/apply for? (men/women, black/white, English speaking/non-english-speaking, rich/poor, etc.). What are those jobs and why do they think only some people can apply? Have they or a relative had an experience of being turned away or discouraged from applying for a job? Record responses on the board. Note the differences and similarities between jobs in the United States and in their home countries. 2. Facilitate a discussion about job discrimination using the following questions as a guide: Have you ever been turned down for a job? Why do you think you were? What are some reasons people can t get jobs even when jobs are available? List all the reasons people mention and then list possible solutions. Keep the tone positive and realistic. End the discussion by talking about changing what you can, but not being defeated by what can t be changed. For more resources on addressing job discrimination, see A Curriculum Packet About Immigration-Related Job Discrimination, Andrea Nash and Peggy Wright, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition and the Office of Special Counsel, October Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 4: What Do You Think? 24

25 L e s s o n 5 The Influence of Family and Friends Learning Objective To identify and explore students awareness of the influence of family and friends Materials Needed Alta Language Builder: Occupation Cards or magazines to cut up Vocabulary advise, advice, guidance, influence, names of family members (wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father, father-in-law, uncle, aunt, etc.), friend, co-worker, colleague, priest, minister, pastor, imam, teacher, rabbi, doctor, working under the table SCANS Competencies Information: Interprets and communicates information Systems: Understands systems Thinking: Reasoning Instructions for Conducting the Activity In this activity, you will model a family job tree to help students identify the influences in their lives. First, draw a job tree of your own family on the board. It can be real or fictitious. An example might be: My Family s Job Tree Father: truck driver Mom: Safeway checker Grandfather: coal miner Uncle: unemployed Step-Brother: construction worker & works under the table making cabinets for friends Me: Ask the students to draw their own family job trees. The tree may include mother, father, step-relatives, foster relatives, aunts, uncles, grandparents and other people who have had a significant impact on their lives. Then lead a discussion using the questions below: What are the major jobs that members of your family have had? What kinds of jobs did most of the men have? What kinds of jobs did the women have? How have technological changes affected jobs? How did your family s jobs shape their lifestyles and values? What education, skills, or qualities are necessary for these jobs? Have members in your family encouraged you in any way to learn about their jobs, or go into the field that they are in? How? Give specific examples. Is there a job pattern in your family? If you can talk to some of your relatives, ask them what they would have really wanted to do with their lives if they had had the opportunity to do so. What else would you ask them? In general, how do careers of family members affect career choices? Include your children in the job tree. How can the job tree change? Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 5: The Influence of Family and Friends 25

26 Extension Activity Ask the students to circle members in the family whom they go to for help. For example, the teacher can start by asking Who do you talk to when your child is sick or Who do you talk to if you have a conflict with a friend? Then ask each student to remember or think about who he or she talked to (or would talk to) in making employment decisions. Who did you talk to? Why did you choose that person(s)? What advice did the person(s) give you? Did you follow the advice? Why or why not? Note that there is no right person to talk to it depends on your background and circumstances. Wrap-up the lesson by pointing out that we all seek advice and are influenced by family and friends. It is important to be aware of those influences and how they can both help and hinder us as we explore careers. Adapted from Personal Management: An Integrated Curriculum, Patti McLaughlin, Curriculum Developer, Adult Basic and Literacy Educators Network of Washington, Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section I, Lesson 5: The Influence of Family and Friends 26

27 Section II The Self-Exploration Process

28 L e s s o n 1 The Career Planning Process Learning Objective To understand what the career planning process is and that it can facilitate the attainment of educational and career goals Materials Needed handout: Career Planning Model Vocabulary laid-off, job security, career, job SCANS Competencies Basic Skills: Listening; Speaking Thinking: Seeing things in the mind s eye Instructions for Conducting the Activity The goal of this lesson is to set the stage for understanding what career planning is and why it is critical to students ability to reach their educational and career goals. Brainstorm the answers to the following questions: How many times will most people (in the US) change jobs in their lifetime? 25 times Can workers in the U.S. today get laid-off through no fault of their own? Yes Is there job security today? Not necessarily, but there are steps you can take that lead to more job security, like continuing to learn new skills. What do employers look at when deciding to hire new employees? Skills and experience Explain that because of all these factors, career planning is an important life skill and it helps students identify the education needed to reach their career goals. To help students understand the difference between a job and a career, brainstorm what they think is meant by both. Record answers on the board. Summarize the definitions as: Job = the work position that you have at any point in time Career = the path of your jobs over time Point out that the goal is to think about your career and not just the next job. Students can do this by creating a map of where they are going. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 1: The Career Planning Process 28

29 Some examples of careers are: 1. Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Surgical Technologist Nurse The career path is in the health care field. 2. Secretary Administrative Assistant Manager This career path could be within many different fields. 3. Teacher Social Worker Consultant This career path focuses on jobs that use similar skills but in different fields. Next ask students to brainstorm what they think is meant by career planning. Write these on the board. Then, using students ideas, summarize with the following points: What is career planning? Identifying what you are good at How your skills, talents, values, and interests translate into work Matching your skills, etc., to existing jobs Matching your career goal to your financial needs It is a process Need it to make good decisions By doing career planning you can find good answers that meet your needs on your schedule Post the Career Planning Model diagram on an overhead or distribute copies. Explain that career planning is an iterative process and is lifelong. Depending on the needs and interest of the class, you can further break down the sections of the process and ask students to decide which parts of the career planning process they are most interested in learning about. This can guide you in how best to engage students with the curriculum. Self-exploration looks at: Skills Values Experience Interests Education Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 1: The Career Planning Process 29

30 Occupational Exploration looks at: Occupational/job profiles Informational interviews Career/job fairs Labor market information Educational and Career Planning looks at: Decision making Goal setting Problem Solving Action Planning You can also post the three categories on big sheets of paper and give students index cards with the bullet points and have students put index cards under the correct heading. Leave these big sheets up in the classroom and when the other lessons in the curriculum are presented, refer to them and identify the part of career planning that the lesson addresses. Extension Activity For students with previous work experience, ask them to make a list of the jobs they have had and two jobs they would like to have. Then have students pair up and share the lists. Have students talk about any similarities in the jobs they have held and those they would like to have. For students with limited or no previous work experience, ask them to make a list of at least three jobs they would be interested in having. Pair up students to share the lists. Ask them to talk about any similarities among the jobs they have chosen. Are there any jobs that they might need to have first to gain the experience for those jobs? Career Planning Model Cultural Context Self-Exploration Process Cultural Context Career Planning Skills Occupational Exploration Cultural Context Cultural Context Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 1: The Career Planning Process 30

31 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 1: The Career Planning Process 31 Career Planning Model Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 1 Page 1

32 L e s s o n 2 Identifying Hopes and Dreams Learning Objective To help students begin to talk about the hopes and dreams they have for their lives as the starting point for career exploration Materials Needed access to music player and song Fast Car by Tracy Chapman lyrics can be found online Vocabulary cruising, checkout girl, promoted, suburbs, convenience store, hopes, dreams SCANS Competencies Basic Skills: Listening; Reading Information: Interprets and communicates information Instructions for Conducting the Activity Distribute the lyrics to the song Fast Car by Tracy Chapman and play the song for students to listen to and follow along. You can point out that Tracy Chapman is from Boston and that she was once homeless and began playing music on the streets in Harvard Square. Facilitate a discussion about what is going on in the song and what hopes and dreams are described. Record key phrases and words on the board: 1. Look at the title. What do you think the song is about? What do people use cars for? 2. In the beginning of the song, where is she working? How does she feel about her life? Can you describe her? 3. What is her plan? Who do you think she is making plans with? Where does she want to go? 4. Why did she quit school? What was the problem? Do you think she should have quit school? If you knew her then, what would you have said to her? Why? 5. When does she have the feeling that she can be someone? Why do you think she has this feeling? Do you ever have this feeling? If so, when? 6. What happens after they move to the city? Does she get a job? What is her job? Does the person she goes with get a job? Where do they live? Does she still have plans? Is she still hopeful? 7. At the end of the song, what is going on? Is she happy? Is she hopeful? What do you think she should do? If you were her friend, what would you say to her? Another set of questions might be: 1. What does the singer want? What are her hopes and dreams? 2. What does she think it will take to realize her hopes and dreams? 3. What steps has she taken to reach her dreams? 4. What kind of jobs has she had or is she planning to get? 5. What gets in the way of her hopes and dreams? lack of job, no HS degree, alcoholic father, mother who left, low-paying job, homelessness Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 2: Identifying Hopes and Dreams 32

33 Then guide the discussion to the hopes and dreams of the students. Ask the following: 1. Think about your own life. What kind of song would you write about your life? 2. What would be the title of that song? Wrap-up discussion focuses on the relevance of this song and discussion to career exploration: 1. It is important to know yourself what you want and need 2. Having hopes and dreams gives us something to work toward 3. Everybody faces obstacles, whether big or small 4. There are ways to address the obstacles by breaking them down into small steps Extension Activity Ask students to write down two dreams/hopes they have. Once all students have done that, ask each student to share one of the dreams/hopes and record that on the board. Then ask each student to name at least one obstacle that gets in the way of that dream and record that. Examples of obstacles might include working as a housekeeper at night, children, limited English proficiency, and family disapproval. Then have the students brainstorm about how those obstacles might be overcome and record those. This might include small steps that can be taken now. For example, taking English classes is a step toward being better prepared to apply for a higher paying job. Another example might be having a family or community elder who supports your dreams talk with members of your family who do not approve. Other examples might include talking to a supervisor about other job opportunities at work. Adapted from the Jamaica Plain Adult Learning Program. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 2: Identifying Hopes and Dreams 33

34 L e s s o n 3 Introduction to Goal Setting Learning Objective To help students begin to understand the importance of setting goals to reach their dreams Materials Needed handouts: Student Goal Scenarios and Worksheet for Student Goal Scenarios Newsprint Vocabulary road map, motivational SCANS Competencies Basic Skills: Listening; Writing Information: Interprets and communicates information Instructions for Conducting the Activity Brainstorm with students the different words we use to talk about what we want to do in the future such as: dreams hopes wishes wants goals aspirations Provide students with copies of the handouts: Student Goal Scenarios and Worksheet for Student Goal Scenarios. Choose some scenarios to read aloud in class while students read along. Have students look at the goal scenarios, individually or in pairs, and answer this question about each scenario: what are the writer s goals for this year? Students can break out each of the goals and record them on the worksheet. Then ask students to write down short answers to the following questions: What were some dreams or hopes that I had for my life when I was a child? What hopes or dreams did I have about my career when I was younger? What hopes or dreams do I have for my life now? What hopes or dreams do I have for my career now? What do I need to do to reach my dreams? Where do I see myself in five years? Students can share their answers in pairs or in a large group. Then, as a class, brainstorm reasons why it is important to have goals. Some answers might include: something to work toward need a road map motivational need something concrete Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 3: Introduction to Goal Setting 34

35 Explain that when we can see clearly what our goals are, then it is more likely that we will achieve them. You need to start with a goal in mind. Having a plan helps you to get to where you want to go. It is important to remember that goals are not set in stone. Goals may change over time as we change. Please note that setting and writing goals is covered again and in more depth in Section IV, Lesson 5. Extension Activity Have students practice writing goals through journals or prompts. Use a selection of those goals to illustrate the process of setting realistic goals and to inspire other students to write their own goals. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 3: Introduction to Goal Setting 35

36 Student Goal Scenarios 1. Farouk moved here from Pakistan two years ago. His English is so-so. He has a good job and he saved some money. He doesn t want to live in an apartment anymore. He is thinking about buying a house but he doesn t understand the financial systems in the United States very well. He also doesn t understand the culture of Americans so he doesn t have many friends. What are his goals for this year? 2. Min Wei is from China. She is at school to learn English. She is 65 years old and she went to the doctor. She is not healthy right now. She smokes because she is very stressed about her new life in the United States. She is also very lonely in the United States. She needs to meet friends and find a place to go for recreation. Her friend goes to the library but Min doesn t have a library card. She knows some people go to community events but she is shy and afraid. What are her goals this year? 3. Luis moved here from the Dominican Republic five years ago. He speaks English but wants to learn more. He works now, but he doesn t make much money. He needs to find a new job. He knows he could get a better job if he used computers, but he doesn t know about computers. Luis knows that he can be a citizen of the United States now because he has lived here for five years. What are his goals this year? 4. Blanca is from Ecuador. She moved here a year ago. She is studying English. She has two kids, and they are in elementary school. They need help with homework, but she isn t sure she is smart enough to help them. She didn t finish high school so she doesn t have a diploma or GED. She wants to get her GED. She is also tired of taking the bus to pick up her children and she has a car but not a license. What are her goals for this year? 5. Nubar has many goals for the future. Some of his goals will take a long time, even if he works hard. He will study every day to get his GED. In about three years, he wants to start college to become a computer technician some day. He and his girlfriend want to get married and have children sometime in the future. He will need a good job so he can help his family. What are his goals for this year? Adapted and used with permission from the Lawrence Public Schools Adult Learning Center Student Goal Scenarios Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 3 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 3: Introduction to Goal Setting 36

37 Worksheet for Student Goal Scenarios Name Country Goal #1 Goal #2 Goal #3 Goal #4 Obstacles Farouk Pakistan Improve his English Buy a house Learn more about financial management. Learn about U.S. culture Time, friends to help him, no family here Min Luis Blanca Worksheet for Student Goal Scenarios Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 3 Page 1 Is it possible in one year? Yes, if he works hard. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 3: Introduction to Goal Setting 37

38 L e s s o n 4 We All Have Transferable Skills Learning Objective To aid students in identifying their own transferable skills Materials Needed Copy of the chapter from Book Five of Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Turkel (1974). The excerpt is called Just a Housewife: Jesusita Navarro (not included in curriculum) Handout: Reading Guide for Jesusita Navarro Vocabulary housewife, settlement house, social worker, charity, welfare, transferable skills SCANS Competencies Basic Skills: Reading Information: Acquire and evaluate information Thinking Skills: Creative thinking Instructions for Conducting the Activity This lesson is based on a reading from Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel (available through various publishers). The particular story we recommend for this lesson is about a woman who is just a housewife. It underscores the notion that regardless of whether or not we are paid for our work, all of us have and use many skills in our daily lives. You can view partial excerpts from the book, including the section called Just a Housewife at source=bl&ots=u0bh0qifub&sig=-#ppr25,m1. It may also be available at your local library or bookstore. A few days before this lesson, distribute Just a Housewife by Jesusita Novarro to read for homework. For lower-level ESOL students, also distribute the worksheet that guides students in their reading of the article. For all students, review the vocabulary words when you hand out the homework. (An alternative, especially for ESOL students, is to read the article out loud together in class.) For this lesson, have the lower-level ESOL students bring their worksheets to class for reference. Review the answers to the worksheet to check for overall comprehension of the reading. The title of the reading is Just a Housewife. Guiding questions: 1. What do you think the author means by just a housewife? What does a housewife do? 2. Does a housewife do work? 3. Ask students to brainstorm a list of the skills that Jesusita has. These might include: Managing her time Organizing activities and people Taking care of children and/or elderly parents Cleaning Running a household Staying within a budget Helping people make decisions Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 4: We All Have Transferable Skills 38

39 Listening to people Knowing how to find resources 4. What are some of the things that you do that you don t get paid for? This might include organizing a bake sale at your child s school, coaching a sports team, teaching at your place of worship, planning a birthday party, etc. Note that these are called transferable skills skills that can be used in many different situations, whether for paid work or not. Many people think that if they aren t being paid, then the skills they use in their daily lives (home/community/school) don t count as real skills. ESOL students can refer to question #10 of the Reading Guide for their responses. List on the board the things that students do but don t get paid for. Identify the skills associated with the activity/ responsibility. If they do paid work, ask them to identify the skills they use in their paid work. If they do not have paid work, ask them to identify what skills they might like to use in a job. Extension Activity Have students take the skills identified above and ask them to make a list of at least five jobs that use the skills identified. Have students pair up and share their lists of skills and possible jobs that use those skills. Have the students help each other think of other jobs that might use those skills. Adapted from the Jamaica Plain Adult Learning Program. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 4: We All Have Transferable Skills 39

40 Reading Guide for Jesusita Novarro Name: Date: 1. What is the first thing that Jesusita does in the morning? 2. What does she do in the afternoon? 3. One of Jesusita s goals is to: a. lose weight b. wear fancy earrings c. get off welfare 4. The head of the settlement house wants Jesusita to: a. take a social worker s job b. go to the hospital c. stay on welfare 5. Jesusita says, Why do they say it s charity? Charity is: a. getting paid for work b. getting something for nothing c. hard work 6. How does Jesusita get treated at the hospital? 7. Jesusita a. has a paid job b. is a mother on welfare c. has a husband with a paid job Reading Guide for Jesusita Novarro Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 4 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 4: We All Have Transferable Skills 40

41 8. Jesusita used to think that she wasn t really good for anything. What made her change her mind? 9. There are mothers that work eleven, twelve hours a day. We get up at night, a baby vomits, you have to be calling a doctor, you have to be changing the baby. When do you get a break, really? You don t. This is an all-around job, day and night. Why do they say it s charity? We re not working for our money? I am working for this check. It is not charity. Do you agree with this statement? Explain why or why not. 10. Describe some of the things that you do that you don t get paid for. 11. Jesusita says, I m hungry for knowledge. I want to do something. I m searching for something. I don t know what it is. Finish the sentences with your own words: I m hungry for I m searching for Reading Guide for Jesusita Novarro Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 4 Page 2 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 4: We All Have Transferable Skills 41

42 L e s s o n 5, p a r t 1 Making a Life Line Learning Objective To help students appreciate the range and nature of influences on their educational and career development and to demonstrate how career-related experiences are interwoven with other (e.g., personal, social, family, and cultural) aspects of their lives Materials Needed Rolls of cash register tape for each student or newsprint sheets, colored markers, handout: Life Line Presentation Guide Vocabulary influence, timeline, career, cultural, life line SCANS Competencies Personal Qualities: Self-esteem Basic Skills: Speaking Information: Organizes and maintains information Instructions for Conducting the Activity Before asking the students to create the Life Line, which is a timeline of events in their lives, you should demonstrate how to create one by walking students through the process as you complete your own life line. Once you have done this, distribute a segment of cash register tape or newsprint to each student. Ask students to record important events in their life and things they have done. Ask them to put the date below each event/thing. Encourage students to use whatever colored markers they would like in constructing their timeline. Tell students that they might record a single event, an ongoing experience, person, thought, or plan. Ask students to select one event on their timeline that they would like to talk about. Lead students through a review of the WH question words: What is the event? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Who was there? Why is it important to you? You can model this process by selecting one of your own life events and talking about it using the WH words. You can either write the WH words on the board and/or distribute the Life Line Presentation Guide handout for students to make some notes about their event for a presentation. Each student then does a five-minute presentation about his/her identified timeline event. As the presentations progress, you can reflect on the commonalities and differences among the significant events/ influences or on the categories of influences that seem to be occurring with regularity (e.g., family members, adult role models, chance events). After each student has done their presentation, post the timelines on the wall and have the students walk around and read them. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 5, Part I: Making a Life Line 42

43 Extension Activity Have students divide into small groups. Ask students to talk about what they learned from their life lines and how this information might influence their next steps in a job or career. Adapted from Experiential Activities for Teaching Career Counseling Classes and for Facilitating Career Groups, Volume One, National Career Development Association, Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 5, Part I: Making a Life Line 43

44 Life Line Presentation Guide Identify one event on your timeline and answer the following questions about it: What is the event? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Who was there? Why is it important to you? Life Line Presentation Guide Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 5, Part 1 Part 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 5, Part I: Making a Life Line 44

45 L e s s o n 5, p a r t 2 Things I Have Done Learning Objective To help students identify transferable skills Materials Needed Student Life Lines (already completed in Section II, Lesson 5, Part 1), handouts: Things I Have Done and Student Future Timeline, post-it notes, newsprint Vocabulary influence, timeline, career SCANS Competencies Thinking Skills: Reasoning; Creative thinking Basic Skills: Reading Instructions for Conducting the Activity Note: For this activity, students need to have already completed a life line (Section II, Lesson 5, Part 1). Ask the students to take out their life lines. Ask the students to refer to (or add in) the event, Start attending English/GED class. Distribute the Things I Have Done handout. Review the checklist as a group, and then ask students to identify what things on the list they did in order to begin attending English or GED class. Record the answers on the board. Then ask students to select another event on their life lines. Distribute post-it notes. Using the handout as a guide, ask them to identify 4 5 Things I Have Done that relate to the new event. Have them write those on a post-it note and attach it to the new event. Have students share with a partner. Next, ask the students to write in three hopes, dreams, or plans on the future part of their life line. Then return to the Things I Have Done handout and ask them to write on a post-it note a list of some of the skills they can use to reach their future hopes, dreams, or plans. Have the students attach the post-it note to the future part of their life lines, and again, ask the students to share with a partner. The students can complete the worksheet Student Future Timeline the following day to reinforce this lesson. Extension Activity Ask each student to choose one event on his/her life line. Students then work in pairs to tell a story about the event each chose. The Telling student describes what the event was and what s/he did to make the event happen or as a result of the event. The Listening student writes down a list of steps taken by the student. Then together the two students review the steps written down and identify the skills used to do each step. The students can refer to the skills listed in the Things I Have Done handout. The students then come back together as a large group. Ask each student to complete the Future Timeline. Then ask each student to name out loud one of his/her future employment goals/events. Finally, ask the student which skills identified in the pairs activity can be used to help accomplish the goal or get to the event. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 5: Things I Have Done 45

46 Things I Have Done Working With People Take care of a sick relative Give medicine to a child Care for child who is disabled Help at a school event Make phone calls Visit friends and family in nursing homes Visit new places Take care of my children or other people s children Teach or coach a sport Organize parties for family or friends Teach at my place of worship Help children with their homework Participate in events in my community Volunteer at a library Work with other parents in the schools Go on field trips for teens and help out Play music or dance for others Other Working With Data Write checks and balance a checkbook Do a budget for my family Record money for a club or group Handle the money/finances for a small business Read a map Follow directions Read a flyer or poster Apply for a loan or credit Fill out forms and applications Make airline arrangements File papers Enter data onto a computer Select and price items to be purchased by a group Maintain sales records for an organization s store or sale Choose colors for sewing, crafts, decorating projects Other types of working with data Working With Things Take care of plants, garden, farm Cooking Do housecleaning at home Flower arranging Care for animals Type, filing, office work for an organization Use a computer Take photographs Operate stereo equipment Build furniture Repair equipment, repair appliances Operate equipment (lawnmowers, saws, forklifts) Use tools Drive buses, vans, taxis Prepare meals for large groups Build things Cut down trees Give haircuts, or do hair styling Take care of cars Other Things I Have Done Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 5, Part 2 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 5, Part 2: Things I Have Done 46

47 Student Future Timeline Name: Future Timeline I I Tomorrow Next Year 5 Years From Now Directions: Think of educational and employment goals that you would like to accomplish in the next 5 years and put them on this timeline. What skills can you use to accomplish your goals? Skills I can use to accomplish my goals: Skill Where or how I ve used it before Student Future Timeline Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 5, Part 2 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 5, Part 2: Things I Have Done 47

48 L e s s o n 6 Things I Like Learning Objective To help students find out about their interests and talents and how to use that information to guide educational and career decisions Materials Needed handout: Things I Like Vocabulary interests, hobbies, recreation SCANS Competencies Basic Skills: Writing; Speaking Personal Qualities: Sociability Instructions for Conducting the Activity Tell students that in order to figure out what career they would like to pursue they can start by thinking about what they like to do and are good at. This exercise will give them an opportunity to learn more about themselves. Distribute the Things I Like handout and have students write down the first things that come to mind on the list. Once all students have completed their lists, have students interview one another in pairs or small groups, using the questions from the handout. For ESOL students, the teacher can model how to ask and answer the questions using the handout. This activity is from Getting There: A Curriculum for People Moving into Employment, The Center for Literacy Studies, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Extension Activity Have students write a paragraph: describing their hobbies identifying at least 5 skills they use by doing the hobby identifying at least two jobs that use these skills Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 6: Things I Like 48

49 Things I Like 1. My hobbies are 2. When I have free time, I like to 3. The most interesting section of the newspaper is 4. On my day off from work or school, I like to 5. My favorite thing to read is 6. My favorite type of television program is 7. My favorite recreation is 8. In conversation, I like to talk about 9. My favorite subjects in school were Adapted from Getting There: A Curriculum for People Moving into Employment, The Center for Literacy Studies, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1996 Things I Like Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 6 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 6: Things I Like 49

50 L e s s o n 7 Identifying Skills Learning Objective To help students learn about skill categories and to identify their own skills Materials Needed handout: Skills Identification and index cards Vocabulary communication, self-management, management, technical SCANS Competencies Interpersonal: Participates as a member of a team Thinking Skills: Problem solving Information: Organizes and maintains information Instructions for Conducting the Activity This is a manipulative activity. Before class, make copies of the Skills Identification handout and cut the list of skills into strips. Have a complete set of cut-up skills strips for each pair or group of students. Write up one set of the seven skill categories on index cards for each group. Explain that knowing what skills are and being able to identify one s own skills is essential for deciding on a career choice or finding a new career. Write the seven categories of skills on the board and briefly explains what they are: Communication skills Number skills Technical skills Business skills Management and Self-Management skills Creative/Artistic skills People skills Divide the class into pairs or groups and explain that each group will be given a pile of skills on strips of paper and a set of index cards with the six skill categories. The groups are to put the strips into the correct skill category. ESOL students will need ample time, teacher support, and bilingual dictionaries. Once all groups have completed the task, review the categories and the skills in each. Ask students to name some jobs that they think require the skills in the different categories. Extension Activity Distribute the Skills Identification handout to students and ask students to check those skills they believe they have. Have a group discussion using the following questions: Do you have skills in more than one area? In which category do you have the most skills? What are the skills needed for the jobs that you are interested in? Do the skills you have match the skills needed for those jobs? Are there some skills that you would like to have but don t have right now? What education and/or training might you need to develop those skills? Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 7: Identifying Skills 50

51 Skills Identification Communication Skills reading and following directions putting things in alphabetical order comparing or cross-checking two lists filling out forms writing letters and memos correctly reading and understanding policies and memos writing reports speaking to people you don t know speaking English and another Language taking notes while someone speaks finding information (getting what you need to know out of the phonebook, a dictionary, the library, etc.) using a map reading bus, train, and plane schedules explaining things to other people know when to ask for help or more explanation Number Skills doing arithmetic correctly using percentages and decimals using a calculator rounding off numbers typing/keyboarding calculating hours worked, money owed, etc. estimating costs and/or time needed to complete a job using a database program on a computer Technical Skills making, fixing, and repairing things operating machinery installing things building things gardening, landscaping, and farming Business Skills operating a computer using a business telephone filing, sorting, and classifying information balancing checkbooks working with budgets setting up and closing out a cash register Management and Self-Management Skills being patient with others keeping a cheerful attitude getting interested/excited about the task at hand offering to help when it s needed knowing how to take directions motivating myself to do what needs to get done helping motivate others to get the job done prioritizing tasks so that the larger goal is met on time following the rules presenting a neat and professional image checking your own work working hard without complaining using courtesy when dealing with others seeking help when needed being eager to learn speaking up for yourself solving problems in a cooperative way Skills Identification Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 7 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 7: Identifying Skills 51

52 Creative/Artistic artistic drawing expressing performing presenting artistic ideas dancing, body movement visualizing shapes designing model making making handicrafts writing poetry illustrating, sketching doing photography mechanical drawing People Skills caring for children responsibly caring for the sick and elderly showing warmth and caring calming people down helping people complete a task teaching someone how to do something knowing how to get along with different people/personalities leading groups or activities Skills Identification Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 7 Page 2 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 7: Identifying Skills 52

53 L e s s o n 8 Things I Am Good At Learning Objective To help students identify their interests and talents and how to use that information to guide educational and career decisions Materials Needed handouts: Things I Am Good At, Skills Identification, and List of 246 Verbs (optional) Vocabulary interests, talents, organize, fix, how to do, show someone, know how to make SCANS Competencies Basic Skills: Writing Thinking Skills: Reasoning; Creative thinking Instructions for Conducting the Activity Distribute the Things I am Good At handout. Ask each student to think about and write down answers on the chart to the items listed. Students can refer to their Skills Identification handout for listing skills used. Once students have completed the chart, then have them form small groups to share what they have written. For ESOL students, you can model how to complete the handout on an overhead or on the board so that students understand what the objective is. Then pass out the first handout for students to do. Extension Activity Have students do a Demonstration Presentation. Ask students to select one of the three things I could show someone else how to do. Have each student prepare and deliver a presentation for the class. Following each presentation, ask the other students to name the skills used in doing the presentation. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 8: Things I Am Good At 53

54 Think about and write down in the chart: Things I Am Good At at least 3 things I have made skills I used at least 3 things I have organized skills I used at least 3 things I have fixed skills I used at least 3 things I know how to do skills I used at least 3 things I could show someone else how to do skills I used Things I Am Good At Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 8 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 8: Things I Am Good At 54

55 List of 246 Skills as Verbs achieving advising ascertaining budgeting classifying completing conserving coping delivering developing discovering distributing editing estimating explaining fixing generating illustrating increasing inspecting integrating inventorying learning maintaining meeting motivating offering overseeing photographing preparing processing proofreading questioning receiving reducing rendering resolving risking separating shaping solving supervising systematizing telling translating typing unifying verbalizing writing acting analyzing assembling building coaching composing consolidating counseling designing devising dispensing diverting eliminating evaluating expressing following getting heading imagining influencing inspiring interpreting investigating lecturing making memorizing navigating operating painting piloting prescribing producing protecting raising recommending referring repairing responding scheduling serving sharing sorting supplying taking instructions tending traveling umpiring uniting washing adapting anticipating assessing calculating collecting computing constructing creating detailing diagnosing displaying dramatizing empathizing examining extracting formulating giving helping implementing informing installing interviewing judging lifting managing mentoring negotiating ordering perceiving planning presenting programming providing reading reconciling rehabilitating reporting restoring selecting setting showing speaking symbolizing talking testing treating understanding upgrading weighing addressing arbitrating attaining charting communicating conceptualizing controlling deciding detecting digging drawing enforcing expanding filing founding guiding hypothesizing improving initiating instituting intuiting keeping listening manipulating modeling observing organizing performing playing printing projecting publicizing realizing recording relating representing retrieving selling setting-up singing studying synergizing teaching training trouble-shooting understudying using winning administering arranging auditing checking compiling conducting coordinating defining determining directing dissecting driving establishing experimenting financing gathering handling identifying improvising innovating instructing inventing leading logging mediating monitoring obtaining originating persuading predicting problem solving promoting purchasing reasoning recruiting remembering researching reviewing sensing sewing sketching summarizing synthesizing team-building transcribing tutoring undertaking utilizing working A List of 246 Skills as Verbs Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 8 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 8: Things I Am Good At 55

56 L e s s o n 9 Skills Auction Learning Objective To help students determine the skills they most value Materials Needed Index cards with skills glued to them, packages of fake money Vocabulary skills, job duties, interests SCANS Competencies Resources: Money Personal Qualities: Self-management Thinking Skills: Decision making Instructions for Conducting the Activity Review the students Skills Identification sheets from Section II, Lesson 7. Using only the skills they have identified, cut up the skills and glue each one separately to an index card. Put fake money in bundles of $100 for every student. Return the Skills Identification sheets to each student. Ask students to review their lists and to identify the five skills they think they are best at. Have students prioritize the five skills by putting the numbers 1 5 next to those skills, with #1 being the top skill. Tell the students that you are going to have an auction of skills. Review what an auction is and how it works. Remind students that they will not be able to buy all the skills they have marked, so the point is for them to try and buy the skills that are most important to them or that they think they are best at. By having this auction, students will have an opportunity to bid on skills that you will read off. The goal is for students to begin to prioritize their skills and to have an opportunity to feel proud of the skills they have and to recognize how much they value those skills. Explain that you will be reading a skill out loud and that each student has the opportunity to bid on that skill. Students may be interested in some skills but not others. Some skills may be desired by many students. You will sell the skill to the highest bidder or buyer. Start with some easy to understand skills. Call out each skill and let students bid. You may have to prompt them. Once the bidding stops, give the highest bidder the index card with the skill on it and collect the money. Keep going until all the skills are sold. Some skills may end up not being of interest to students or they may have run out of money. When the bidding ends, go around the room and have each student share the skill(s) that s/he bought and tell about how they use that skill in their job/life. Extension Activities 1. A variation of the auction is a bartering scavenger hunt for skills. The goal is for students to barter with other students for the skills that they most want to have. Choose skills from the Skills Identification list that the teacher knows are of interest to the students. Write, or cut up and tape, each skill on an index card. Identify enough skills so that each student can have three index cards. Randomly distribute three index cards to each student. Explain that each student has different skills on the index cards. Students must walk around and find students with skills they would like to have. The students then barter one skill for another. The goal is to try and get the three skills you would most like to have (or the three skills you do have). Put a time limit on the bartering. When it is done, have a group discussion: Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 9: Skills Auction 56

57 Were you able to get the skills you most wanted? Were some skills more in demand than others? If you could not get the skills you most wanted, how did you decide what other skills to barter for? (This question can lead to a discussion of transferable skills.) 2. Have students pick three skills that they would like to have but do not. Have them prioritize those skills and write a paragraph about why they chose those skills. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 9: Skills Auction 57

58 L e s s o n 1 0 Identifying Job Values Learning Objective To help students identify what job values are and their importance in choosing a career Materials Needed handouts: Job Values Inventory and Work Values Clarification Vocabulary values, rank or prioritize, compatible, benefits, salary, job security, working conditions, environment, organization, promotion/advancement, prestige, respect, value system SCANS Competencies Basic skills: Speaking Thinking skills: Decision making Information: Acquires and evaluates information Instructions for Conducting the Activity Explain to students that as part of the career awareness process, they have had an opportunity to identify skills they have. Another step in the career awareness process is identifying what they value in a job. Their personal value system the things in life they find most important that influence and direct their lives contributes to their job selection. Group brainstorm: Ask students to name things that are important to them in a job. Record the list on the board. Ask students to say why the things are important to them. Guiding questions include: What is more important to you a good salary or work hours that meet your needs? Is it important to you to move up or advance in your job? Does it matter where your work is located? In your neighborhood? Accessible by public transportation? Not more than a one-hour commute? How important is it that you get along with your coworkers? Supervisors? Customers? Do you need health benefits? Insurance? Do you want a job that will last for a long time? One that is not likely to have lay-offs? If there are students who are employed, ask them if their values are different today than when they first started working? For instance, was money the #1 value to begin with and now is it health benefits? After the students have discussed this, distribute the Job Values Inventory handout. Review the checklist and what each item means. Relate the items back to the list they developed on the board. In class, or for homework, ask each student to rank the items from 1 to 12 with 1 being most important and 12 the least important. Have them bring it to class the next day for another job values lesson. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 10: Identifying Job Values 58

59 Extension Activity This work values clarification activity helps students look at the influences on their own values. Explain that a value is an idea or thing that we believe is important and will benefit our life. We learn values when we are young children and gradually expand and apply them to our lives as we get older. Distribute the Work Values Clarification handout and have students answer the questions on their own. Then either compile a group list on the board or have students pair up to share their answers. From Personal Management: An Integrated Curriculum, Patti McLaughlin, Curriculum Developer, Adult Basic and Literacy Educators Network of Washington, Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 10: Identifying Job Values 59

60 Job Values Inventory This exercise helps you identify which job qualities you value most. Rank the items below from 1 to 12 with 1 being most important and 12 the least important. Once you begin exploring job possibilities, focus only on jobs that meet your highest ranked values. Good salary Good benefits (insurance, retirement, etc.) Job security Work hours that meet your needs Satisfactory location Compatible coworkers, supervisors, customers Opportunity to learn and develop skills Challenging and satisfying work Good working conditions / environment Like / believe in what the organization does Chance for promotion / advancement Prestige and respect Adapted from the California Career Planning Guide Job Values Inventory Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 10 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 10: Identifying Job Values 60

61 Work Values Clarification On your own, brainstorm answers to the following questions. 1. What are three values that your parents held? What are three values that you think teachers in schools hold? What are three values that you believe most employers hold? What are three values that your friends hold? Adapted from Personal Management: An Integrated Curriculum, Patti McLaughlin, Curriculum Developer, Adult Basic and Literacy Educators Network of Washington, Work Values Clarification Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 10 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 10: Identifying Job Values 61

62 L e s s o n 1 1 Prioritizing Job Values Learning Objective To help students prioritize their work values and clarify the importance of them Materials Needed handouts: Job Values Inventory and Job Values Inventory Summary Vocabulary values, rank or prioritize, compatible, benefits, salary, job security, working conditions, environment, organization, promotion/advancement, prestige, respect, value system SCANS Competencies Information: Acquires and evaluates information; Interprets and communicates information Basic skills: Speaking Instructions for Conducting the Activity Ask students to pull out their completed Job Values Inventory handout on which they ranked their job values from This was done in Section II, Lesson 10. If this was done as homework, answer any questions. Then explain that we all tend to assume that others work from a value system similar to our own. This is not always the case. Explain that they will learn a lot about themselves as they explore the reasons behind their own personal ratings. It will help them gain a clearer idea of their values and how those values affect their educational and career choices. The job values can be a guiding reminder of the type of job you are looking for, one that has the characteristics you find important and meaningful. Have students participate in a give-one-get-one activity. They have to walk around the room and find people (at least 2 3) who have a different #1 ranked job value. They should try to find 2 3 different #1 ratings. They are to write that value down on the back of their handout and to ask the person why they chose that as their #1 value. When the group has completed the activity, ask students to call out their #1 ranking and write those on the board. Then debrief by asking some questions: Does there seem to be one or two rankings that were most popular? Why do you think that was? Were there some rankings that no one chose as #1? What did you learn about others? Why did others make the choices they did? What did you learn about yourself? Then distribute the Job Values Inventory Summary handout and review it with the students. Have the students complete the handout in class. Add that it will be useful to keep this list and review it from time to time to see how their values change. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 11: Prioritizing Job Values 62

63 Extension Activities There are several variations for how to conduct this lesson. 1. Put a chart on the board of the Job Values Inventory and plot students responses. This can lead to a discussion about what values are most important to the students. 2. Put students in pairs and have them interview one another about their lists and why they numbered the values as they did. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 11: Prioritizing Job Values 63

64 Job Values Inventory Summary List your top six job values you consider very important to have in your job. Top Six Job Values Out of these six job values listed above, explain for at least three why you feel you cannot manage without them. I cannot be without these Job Values because: Your job values may appear in other small ways within your life, but have the most significance in your career. Spending time evaluating their importance can lead to self-understanding and fulfilling work. Adapted from the California Career Planning Guide Job Values Inventory Summary Section II: The Self-Exploration Process, Lesson 11 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 11: Prioritizing Job Values 64

65 L e s s o n 1 2, P a r t 1 Putting It All Together Interests, Skills, and Values Learning Objective To help students understand the relationship between their interests, skills, values, and abilities, and how that informs educational and career options Materials Needed CDM (Career Decision Making System Revised) Level 2 Survey Booklet, Hand-Scored Edition or Internet access to the alternative career surveys listed below Vocabulary survey, booklet, interpretative folder SCANS Competencies Basic skills: Reading Thinking skills: Decision making Personal qualities: Integrity/honesty Instructions for Conducting the Activity: You should review and complete a CDM Survey Booklet and Interpretive Folder for yourself before doing this activity with students. In order to successfully complete the Survey Booklet, students will need to use many learning strategies. As you complete the Survey Booklet, you should note what learning strategies are needed and be prepared to help students utilize these when the students are completing the Survey Booklet. ESOL students at the SPL level 6 7 may be able to complete the Survey Booklet on their own. The Survey Booklet is best used with SPL level 3 and higher. If you aren t able to purchase the CDM survey, your students may be able to take it through your local One Stop Career Center. If not, there are a number of free online alternatives. Although not as comprehensive as the CDM, they will still be informative. Some examples are: The Beehive Skills Search Motivated Skills Test/Career Values Test Massachusetts Career Information System (Mass CIS) This activity may work best when students have had an opportunity to participate in other discrete activities to identify skills, values, and interests prior to doing the CDM. This activity gives students an opportunity, as part of the selfexploration process, to put it all together in a meaningful way. Day of Activity: Explain to students that they are going to look at how their skills, values, and interests match up with various occupations that they might be interested in exploring further or learning more about. This is not a test and there is no right or wrong answer. Encourage students to answer the questions honestly so that they can better understand what career path might work best for them. For students who are working, this activity may be a way for them to evaluate advancement opportunities or new career paths. Distribute the CDM Level 2 Survey Booklets. As students complete the activities in the Survey Booklet, they will use the information to fill in the Summary Profile on the last page of the booklet. The Summary Profile is the basis for reading the CDM Interpretative Folder. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 12: Putting It All Together 65

66 Have students put their names and date on the cover. Explain that they will be able to keep the booklets for reference. Walk the students through each section of the booklet, reading the directions aloud together, and explaining vocabulary and allowing time for the students to complete a section before moving onto the next section. After completing a section in the booklet, refer the students to the back page Summary Profile where the students will fill in their answers from the section. The goal of the activity is to have students complete the Summary Profile on page 16 of the Survey Booklet. Explain to students that in another class, they will then look at how their skills, interests, and values match with different occupations. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 12: Putting It All Together 66

67 L e s s o n 1 2, P a r t 2 Matching Skills, Interests, and Values to Occupations Learning Objective To help students learn how interests, skills, values, and abilities inform educational and career options Materials Needed CDM (Career Decision Making System Revised) Level 2 Interpretive Folder; each students needs his/her completed CDM Level 2 Survey Booklet with the Summary Profile filled in Vocabulary survey, booklet, interpretative folder SCANS Competencies Basic skills: Reading Thinking skills: Seeing things in the mind s eye; Reasoning Instructions for Conducting the Activity This lesson requires that the students have already completed the CDM Level 2 Survey Booklet in Section II, Lesson 12, Part 1. The chart in the Interpretive Folder is complex. It is essential to review the directions carefully before doing this activity with students. Day of Activity: Distribute the students completed CDM Level 2 Survey Booklets and a clean copy of the CDM Level 2 Interpretive Folder. Explain that they are now going to learn about occupations that match the skills, interests, and values that they identified in the Survey Booklet. Ask the students to turn the Survey Booklet over to page 16. Have them place that next to the front page of the Interpretive Folder. Ask the students to transfer the Summary Profile information from the Survey Booklet to the right hand column of the Interpretive Folder titled Summary Profile. Walk through the folder with students, reading the directions aloud together, and giving them time to complete each set of directions before moving on. Depending on the level of the class, you may want to help each student work through 1 2 careers and then have the student do the remaining careers on his/her own. Once all students have completed the chart, explain that in another class time they will have the opportunity to use the Internet to find more information about the occupations they circled on their CDM Interpretive Folders. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section II, Lesson 12: Matching Skills, Interests, and Values 67

68

69 Section III Occupational Exploration

70 L e s s o n 1 Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations Learning Objective To help students become familiar with how to find occupational information on the Internet and to know what type of information is helpful in comparing occupational choices Materials Needed handouts: Career Exploration on the Internet Versions A, B, or C Completed CDM (Career Decision Making System Revised) or results from other online career surveys CDM Level 2 Interpretive Folder (optional) Computers with Internet access for each student Vocabulary websites, Internet, licensure, certification SCANS Competencies Basic Skills: Reading Technology: Applies technology to task Thinking: Seeing things in the mind s eye Instructions for Conducting the Activity This activity can be conducted using students results from the Completed CDM Level 2 Interpretive Folder, or, if your students have not done the CDM, you can have them write down 2 4 occupations they are interested in learning more about and use that list as the basis for the Internet search. Websites for career exploration: Occupational Outlook Handbook Next Steps (see Career Profiles ) America s Career InfoNet World-of-Work Map Massachusetts Career Information System New York Career Zone We highly recommended that you review each of the websites listed above to determine which site provides information in the most accessible manner for the students language level and familiarity with the Internet. There are three versions of the Career Exploration on the Internet handout. Version A: Pre-GED/GED students Version B: ESOL students Version C: College Transition students Choose the version that best meets students needs. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 70

71 Day of Activity: Students can do this activity in pairs or by themselves depending on their familiarity with the computer and the Internet. Tell students that they will be learning more about the occupations they each identified through the CDM. Ask them to choose at least two occupations to research on the Internet. Select and distribute a version of the handout Career Exploration on the Internet that is appropriate for your students. Explain that these are common questions that people have when researching occupations. These questions are just a guide. The students should add other questions that are important to them. Review the handout with the students to make sure that everyone understands the questions. Brainstorm other questions the students might want to have answered. You can then model how to look for the information on the website that you have chosen ahead of time. Choose an occupation not listed by the students and walk the students through the Career Exploration on the Internet on how to find the information. Note for ESOL classes: We recommend that you select two occupations to use as examples. Using the Career Exploration on the Internet handout, one occupation can be completed by you before the lesson. Then to introduce the lesson to the class, the teacher can take the students through the information gathering process using the completed sample handout. Next, as a class, the students can look for and fill in the information on the second occupation. After this, the students will be better prepared to research information on their own. Then have students log onto the website and find information about their occupations. If possible, have students print out information for review later. Note for College Transition classes: These students may have already chosen a career and educational pathway. Version C of the Career Exploration on the Internet handout allows them to focus on one occupation and educational pathway in more depth. Extension Activity This activity can be expanded upon in a follow-up lesson to help students compare the amount of education needed and the expected wage for different occupations. This will encourage students to begin to think realistically about whether a career path is right for them or not. Have students bring their completed Career Exploration on the Internet handouts to class. Post four large sheets of paper around the room with the labels: High School or GED, Certificate Program or Associates Degree, Bachelor s Degree, and Graduate Degree. Ask students to list their career choices under one of the four sheets based on education needed. Ask them to also mark the wage of the career choice next to it. Facilitate a discussion based on the following questions: Were they surprised by how much or how little education was needed for some jobs? Which ones and why? Were they surprised by how much or how little the wage was for some jobs? Which ones and why? Is there a relationship between how much education/training a job requires and the wage of the job? Why do some jobs require a BA degree but pay less than a job requiring an AA degree? Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 71

72 Work Description and Working Conditions Career Exploration on the Internet Version A What does a do on a daily basis? In what kind of setting do they work? Inside or outside? How many hours a day do they work? Does a work alone or with other people? What kind of equipment does a use? (for example, computer, x-ray machine, forklift, etc.) Are there any physical or health considerations concerning this work? Other questions? Wage/Salary What is the typical starting salary in this occupation? Other Questions? Employment Outlook What is the employment outlook for this occupation? Are there many jobs in this occupation near where I live? Is part-time employment usually available in this occupation? Career Path and Opportunities for Growth What are the opportunities for advancement in this occupation? Other questions? Education Requirements, Licensure/Certification What education and/or training are required to become a? Where do I go to school or get training in my area to become a? Career Exploration on the Internet A Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 1 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 72

73 What is the best school for? Does this occupation require licensure or certification? Other questions? Career Exploration on the Internet A Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 1 Page 2 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 73

74 Career Exploration on the Internet Version B Sample Occupation #1 Sample Occupation # 2 Student Occupation #1 Student Occupation #2 What are the duties? What is the job setting? How many hours a day or a week is the job? Work alone or with people? What kind of equipment is used? What is the salary? Are there many jobs? What education and/or training are required? Career Exploration on the Internet B Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 1 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 74

75 Career Exploration on the Internet Version C Name of career: Sources of information: Occupational Outlook Handbook Information Interview Dictionary of Occupational Titles Vocational Biographies Other Books 1. Work Description What does a worker in this occupation do? What tasks does the worker perform? 2. Working Conditions Is the work done inside or outside? Are there any physical or health considerations concerning this work? 3. Lifestyle Considerations Does this occupation often require working hours or locations that might be a problem for me (frequent overtime, evening or weekend work, travel away from home)? Career Exploration on the Internet C * Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 1 * Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 75

76 4. Places of Employment Are there jobs in this occupation near where I now live? Where? Is part-time employment usually available in this occupation? Are there places to volunteer where I could get experience in this kind of work? 5. Rewards What rewards or satisfactions might I find in this occupation? 6. Drawbacks What things do I find unappealing or unpleasant in this occupation? 7. Personal Qualities or Characteristics What personal qualities or characteristics would be helpful for being successful in this occupation? 8. Employment Outlook What is the employment outlook in this occupation? Career Exploration on the Internet C * Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 1 * Page 2 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 76

77 9. Future Advancement What are the opportunities for advancement in this occupation, and how might I prepare for advancement? 10. Earnings What is the typical starting salary in this occupation? How much do people who have been in this occupation make after 10 years? 11. Education and Training Type and amount of education/training required: On-the-job training Apprenticeship One or two years of vocational technical school or community college Two-year college degree Four-year college degree Graduate school What kinds of courses or training are you willing to commit now? What are the names of three places where you can get these courses or this kind of training? 12. Financial Considerations for Education and Training Will I have to pay for these courses or training? Would there be an opportunity to be paid as I learn? If I have to pay for my education or training, how much will it cost? Career Exploration on the Internet C * Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 1 * Page 3 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 77

78 13. Information About Financial Aid Where or from whom do I go to get information about financial aid? Financial Aid Office of College Educational Opportunity Center or other Federal TRIO office Tuition assistance offered by employer Higher Education Assistance Foundation Public Library US Department of Veterans Affairs Other 14. Related Occupations If this occupation does not seem to meet my qualifications for a career, what other occupations may be related or similar? Compiled by M. O'Malley. Adapted from the Military Career Guide, U.S. Government. Career Exploration on the Internet C * Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 1 * Page 4 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 1: Using the Internet to Learn About Occupations 78

79 L e s s o n 2 Labor Market Trends and Information Learning Objective To help students learn what labor market information is and how to use it Materials Needed access to computers and the Internet handout: Finding Labor Market Information on the Internet Vocabulary labor market, trends, statistics, data, projections, estimated SCANS Competencies Information: Acquires and evaluates information, Uses computers to process information Thinking Skills: Knowing how to learn Instructions for Conducting the Activity We recommend that you visit the website ahead of time and become familiar with the pages needed for this activity. This activity is an online scavenger hunt using your state s labor market information. Locate and familiarize yourself with the website(s) where your state publishes its labor market information. Try the state agencies that oversee labor, employment and training, or workforce development, or search the Internet using key words such as the name of your state and labor market information. Divide students into pairs. Ask each pair to identify the following for the scavenger hunt: one town or area of the state where they would be interested in working two occupations that they would be interested in learning more about Have students log onto the website(s) that you ve chosen. Review the navigation features of the website s homepage. Model how to find occupational information for a specific town or region. Then have the students work together in pairs to complete the handout for the scavenger hunt. When the students have completed the handout, have a large group discussion using the following guiding questions: What occupation had the highest hourly rate? In what town or area of the state? What occupation had the largest number of people employed in 2000? What industries employ people in the occupation? Were you surprised by any of the information? Extension Activity The handout can be expanded to include questions about other data of interest to students using other tabs. This could include information about employers, income, industries, and layoffs. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 2: Labor Market Trends and Information 79

80 Finding Labor Market Information on the Internet Town or state region Occupation 1 Occupation 2 Name of occupation What is the estimated average hourly wage? What is the estimated average annual wage? How many people were employed in this occupation in 2000? How many people are estimated to be employed in this occupation in the future (choose a year)? What is the projected growth rate for this occupation? List the top three industries that employ people in this occupation? Finding Labor Market Information on the Internet Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 2 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 2: Labor Market Trends and Information 80

81 L e s s o n 3 Informational Interviews Learning Objective To help students learn how to conduct an informational interview Materials Needed handouts: Informational Interview Guide and Informational Interview Log Vocabulary interview, informational, personnel, qualifications, training, benefits, wages, entry-level, advancement SCANS Competencies Interpersonal: Participates as a member of a team Personal Qualities: Sociability Basic Skills: Speaking Instructions for Conducting the Activity: This activity will give students an opportunity to practice doing an informational interview. Using the chart below, explain to the class that job seekers are likely to participate in one or both of two different types of interviews. Why? Informational Interview To learn more about jobs you might be interested in doing Job Interview To see if your skills match what the employer needs for a specific job opening When? In the early stages of your exploration of career options After you have applied for a specific job opening Who? Outcome? Friends, family, neighbors, someone who has worked in a particular industry or occupation for a long time, someone in the community who does the job You have more information about a job, you make a potentially valuable contact to add to your network May be a human resources person from the company or a manager who is doing the hiring directly The employer decides whether to hire you or not Brainstorm with students a list of questions that they might want to ask someone to find out more about a particular job. Record the list on the board. Explain to students that they are going to have an opportunity to practice doing an informational interview with people working in the building or in the program. The students will conduct the informational interviews in groups of two or three. The interviews should take only about ten minutes unless the person being interviewed wants to continue talking. Distribute and review the Informational Interview Log. For question #6, students can add in a question based on the list generated in class. Model how to approach people to ask for an interview. (Note for ESOL classes: In addition to role-playing the initial contact interview, the teacher may need to allow time to practice using role-plays to prepare for the actual informational interview.) Each group of students will decide who to interview. The group can decide who will take notes during the interview and who will ask questions. Allow a half-hour for the groups to find someone and conduct the interview in the building. The groups should report back to class and complete their logs. Then all groups take turns sharing what they learned. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 3: Informational Interviews 81

82 Large group discussion questions include: What was easiest about doing the interview? What was hardest? What would you do differently? What additional questions did you ask? Who would you like to interview in the community to learn more about jobs you are interested in? Extension Activity On the board, record the list of jobs students explored on the Internet in Occupational Exploration, Section III, Lesson 1. Divide the list into categories (e.g., manufacturing jobs, health care jobs, etc.) or by skill level or any other way they are interested in. Ask students to look at the jobs on the list that are in the category in which they were most interested. Each student should look over the list and decide on a small number of jobs they would like to know more about. Group students together who are interested in the same or related jobs. This sets the stage for the groups to conduct informational interviews with people in the community who are knowledgeable about particular jobs areas. People to be interviewed might include a personnel officer from a particular company, a representative of the local Career Center, or Chamber of Commerce. S/he could be a worker who has held a variety of jobs or someone who has worked in the same industry for a long time and knows it well. Through such interviews, participants can find out about job opportunities, changes in employment in this sector over time, and the skill and training requirements for jobs. The interviewing could be done by a small group or pairs (and several small groups could interview different people). The interviews could be done in class (with the interviewee invited to come) or in the person s own office. Either way, the interview should be planned in detail ahead of time who to interview, what questions to ask, who will ask what, how will answers be recorded? After the interview, the group should report back to the class on what they have learned. For the report backs, develop a wall chart listing the questions and responses for each job. Discussion questions for comparing the answers might include: Which job has the highest entry-level wage? Which job has the highest educational requirement? Do the jobs with the higher educational/training requirements also have higher entry-level wages? Which jobs have the most advancement opportunities? Which field has the most job openings? Note for ESOL: In addition to the report back questions on the job, allow students time to share how they did from a language perspective. For example, the students can do a journal writing to reflect on their ability to listen, understand, and respond during their interview experience. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 3: Informational Interviews 82

83 Why? Informational Interview Guide 1. To get information about places of work. 2. To help you make informed choices about where you want to work and what kind of job you want. 3. To create a network of contacts. Where to go? Who to speak with? 1. With friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances 2. People whose careers interest you or about which you are curious 3. Places where you would like to do an on-the-job training or job shadowing 4. People to whom you have been referred by your contacts How? Here s what to say to friends or family or anyone you want to interview: 1. I m collecting information about various fields of work. 2. I m really interested in the work that you do. 3. I m not looking for a job right now. 4. I only need ten minutes of your time to ask you some questions. 5. Is it convenient now or later? Interview Guidelines 1. You can write notes during the interview, although it is better to listen very carefully and then take notes as soon as you leave the interview. 2. After 10 minutes is over, thank them for their time and the meeting. If they want to continue, you may. 3. Before you leave: a. Write down their Name, Job Title, Complete name of their company, Address, and Telephone Number OR b. Ask for their business card 4. Write them a thank-you note. Be sure your name, address, and phone number appear in the note. The Questions 1. What do you do in a typical work day? 2. How did you get started in this job? 3. What experience, education, training, and skills did you need? 4. What would you most like to change about your work? 5. Who else do you know that I can talk to? (If they give you a name of someone, ask if you may use their name when contacting them.) These questions should take no longer than 10 minutes to answer. Be professional, stay on topic, do not talk about yourself and what you can or cannot do. Informational Interview Guide Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 3 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 3: Informational Interviews 83

84 If you have extra time, you may ask any of the following: 6. What types of training and qualifications does this company look for in their employees? 7. Does your company take interns or job shadows? 8. Who does the hiring here? What is the hiring process? More Tips 1. Be sure to be well groomed and neatly dressed. 2. Make eye contact with the person to whom you are talking and smile when it is appropriate. 3. Extend your hand when you are being greeted and shake hands firmly. 4. Do not sit down until you have been invited to do so. 5. Look around and notice your surroundings. Notice what you like and don t like about what you see, and be sure to put these observations into your notes. 6. Try to relax and enjoy yourself! Informational Interview Guide Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 3 Page 2 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 3: Informational Interviews 84

85 Informational Interview Log Name of Contact: Business: Job Title: Address: Telephone Number: Address: Date of Meeting: Questions to ask: 1. What do you do in a typical work day? 2. How did you get started in the job? What experience, education, training, and skills did you need? 3. What do you like most about your work? 4. What would you most like to change about your work? 5. Who else do you know that I can talk to? (If they give you a name of someone, ask if you may use their name when contacting them?) 6. Other question: Informational Interview Log Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 3 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 3: Informational Interviews 85

86 L e s s o n 4 Job Fairs/Career Fairs Learning Objective To help students learn what a job fair and a career fair are and how to use them to explore career options Materials Needed employers as panelists or individual speakers Vocabulary resume, recruiter, interview, job seeker, advertise, business card SCANS Competencies Personal Qualities: Sociability Information: Acquires and evaluates information Basic Skills: Speaking Instructions for Conducting the Activity Explain that there are other ways, beyond searching the Internet and doing informational interviews, to learn about various careers (career fairs) and companies (job fairs). One way is to attend a job or career fair. Ask students if they have ever been to a job fair. Use their input to explain to the rest of the class what a job fair is. Points to include about a job fair are: Usually organized around recruiters for a single employer or group of employers Recruiters may or may not have job openings Good opportunity to learn about various companies, rather than occupations A great opportunity to practice asking questions or to do an informational interview Then explain to students what a career fair is: May be organized by educational programs on-site Speakers representing a variety of occupations talk about their work An excellent source of occupational information An opportunity for students to ask questions and interact informally with an employed professional Great opportunity to do an informational interview Depending on students interests and needs, the teacher can decide with the students to host a job fair and/or a career fair for the class. If the students are interested in hosting a job fair on-site at the program: Brainstorm a list of at least ten local employers that students would be interested in learning more about. Explain that you will contact these employers to ask them to come to your class for a mini-job fair in a month. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 4: Job Fairs/Career Fairs 86

87 Brainstorm a list of questions that students would like the employers to answer. The list might include: What types of job openings are there in your company? What kinds of skills are you looking for in a prospective employee? What kind of education and experience do your employees have? What type of training does your company offer? What is a typical career path in your company? Tell students that they can bring a resume to the mini-job fair to give to employers. Students should come prepared to answer basic interview-style questions about themselves and their career aspirations. Invite 5 10 employers to come to the class or program and to bring materials about their companies. On the day of the mini-job fair, you can have employers answer questions in a panel format or you can have them set up around the room (or a conference room) to resemble booths at a job fair. Distribute a list to the students of the questions they brainstormed earlier. If conducting this as a panel, have students take turns asking the panel questions. If conducting this booth-style, pair students and ask them to visit each booth to ask the questions and collect information. Remind students that they can hand out their resumes. If the students are interested in hosting a career fair: Brainstorm a list of 4 6 occupations that students would be interested in learning more about. Explain that you will find local professionals in these occupations to come and participate in a career fair in a month. A variation of the traditional career fair is to highlight the different settings that employ one occupation, such as nurse. This could be a visit from one individual or could be done as a panel, which could consist of, for example, 3 4 nurses who work in a variety of settings ER, doctor s office, nursing home, and home health. Brainstorm a list of questions that students would like the individual or panelists to answer. (They can refer to the list of questions from Section II, Lesson 1.) The list might include: What do you do on a daily basis? What kind of setting do you work in? Do you work with people? Equipment? What kinds of skills and qualifications do you need for this job? What kind of education and training do you need? What is a typical beginning salary? Is there room for advancement? What is a typical career path for this occupation? On the day of the career fair, have panelists or individual sit in front of the room. Have students take turns asking questions. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 4: Job Fairs/Career Fairs 87

88 Extension Activities 1. Ask students to write up a 60-second introduction for a job fair that covers their name, their interests and experience, and what type of work they are looking for. Have students pair up and practice their introductions. ESOL students should get extra practice time so that they feel comfortable giving their introductions in a fluent and confident manner. Have the students time each other and make suggestions. If possible, you can video students practicing their introductions and review the tape with them. 2. Have students write a thank-you letter to a recruiter they met at a job fair. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 4: Job Fairs/Career Fairs 88

89 L e s s o n 5 Career Ladders Learning Objective To help students think long-term about job opportunities Materials Needed Access to CareerOneStop website Printed copies of career ladder diagrams from the Career One Stop website Vocabulary mapping, promotion, advancement, wage, lateral movement, horizontal movement, tuition reimbursement, human resources department, personnel SCANS Competencies Systems: Understands systems Information: Interprets and communicates information Thinking Skills: Seeing Things in the Mind s Eye Instructions for Conducting the Activity Prior to the lesson, review the sample career ladders and lattices at the CareerOneStop, Identify one or two career ladders to share with students. When looking at occupations, it is useful for students to understand the possibilities for promotion or movement within a particular field or company. Students entering the work force for the first time or seeking a better job can benefit by understanding that a career ladder is a step-by-step wage and skill progression in a job category or within a company. Students will also benefit from understanding that they can move across occupations within an industry or sector. For example, within a health care setting, a worker can move from a position in environmental services to patient care. Ask students to brainstorm a list of jobs a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) could do, within health care, if s/he had more training. Record the list. Explain that the list is the start of a career ladder. Guiding questions include: Do you know CNAs who have followed any of these paths? Are career paths always upward? Can you identify a career path you may have taken? How did you identify it? Career ladders are important because: The more you know about career ladders in an industry or company, the better able you are to make good job choices. You can identify what further training or education is needed and make plans for how you will obtain the education. It can help you feel less stuck in a job, if you know what you are working towards. Some employers provide tuition reimbursement for education and training related to your job. Then distribute the diagrams that you printed from the the CareerOneStop website. Guiding questions include: What training and/or education does it take to move from one step on the ladder to another? Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 5: Career Ladders 89

90 Are there any surprises in the ways that you can move? Why might someone move across instead of up an occupational ladder? How might you decide which path is right for you? Are there any surprises in the ways that you can move? Do these career paths match your experience (or your family and friends experience)? Extension Activities 1. Have students do an informational interview with a human resource representative to learn more about career paths for an occupation. 2. For students with a work history, have them draw their career path to the present. Ask them to then add the career they are aiming for. Have them write about how they might begin to get to that career. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 5: Career Ladders 90

91 L e s s o n 6 Workers Rights: Labor Unions, Labor Laws, and Benefits Learning Objective To help students learn about the rights of employees in the workplace Materials Needed handouts: Workers Rights Vocabulary, Discrimination and Equal Rights Protections, and Labor Unions Vocabulary union, rights, grievance, contract, guarantee, laid off, fired, seniority, strike, picket, favoritism, minority, bargain collectively, benefits, medical insurance SCANS Competencies Systems: Understands systems Information: Acquires information Basic Skills: Listening Instructions for Conducting the Activity ESOL teachers will need to focus on vocabulary building as a pre-activity lesson. In a large group, discuss examples of discrimination on the job that happened to students or someone they know. Make a list of the examples. Note any groupings. Ask what the student or friend did about the discrimination. Explain that there are several US federal laws that protect the rights of all working people. Ask students to decide which statements are true or false: It is legal for men to be paid more than women doing the same work. (F) Employers can refuse to give benefits to a pregnant woman. (F) Employers cannot discriminate in job promotions based on nationality. (T) An employee who uses a wheelchair cannot be laid-off. (F) A worker can take an unpaid leave from a job for personal or family medical problems. (T) Workers have the right to organize and bargain collectively with employers. (T) Distribute and review the Discrimination and Equal Rights Protections handout. Then brainstorm as a large group answers to the following questions: What is a union? What are some benefits that workers have if they belong to a union? Were you ever in a union in the US or your home country? How are unions in the US similar to/different from unions in your country? Has a union ever helped you? What happened? Are there any disadvantages to being a union member? If so, what are they? Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 6: Workers Rights 91

92 Distribute and review the Labor Unions handout. Discuss these questions: What is a labor union? What does a union representative do? What is a union contract? What is a strike? How can a union protect its members from discrimination and harassment? Extension Activity Invite a union member or representative to talk to your class. Distribute the Guest Speaker Union Member handout and have students complete it during the talk or later. Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 6: Workers Rights 92

93 Workers Rights Vocabulary favoritism treating some people better than others minority any person from a group that is not more than half (50%) of the total population contract guarantee laid-off fired strike picket union rights grievance bargain collectively leave written agreement between a labor union and a company or organization to insure had a job end unexpectedly. Lay-offs are often due to a shortage of work, or because workers are only needed during a particular season (for example, farm work). Some lay-offs are temporary. terminated from a job to temporarily stop working because of disagreements with the company a line of striking workers protesting outside a workplace. A picket can bring attention to the disagreement with the company and discourage other workers from entering the workplace. an organization that represents workers things guaranteed to you by law a written complaint negotiate as a group time away from work Workers Rights Vocabulary Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 6 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 6: Workers Rights 93

94 Discrimination and Equal Rights Protections Several U.S. federal laws protect the rights of all working people. 1. Equal Pay Act of Civil Rights Act of Age Discrimination in Employment Act of Americans with Disabilities Act of National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Wagner Act) 6. Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 No discrimination in pay to women or men performing the same work. No discrimination in hiring, pay, promotion, layoffs, benefits, or training on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, nationality. No discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. No discrimination in hiring, pay, promotion, layoffs, and conditions of employment for employees age 40 and over. No discrimination in hiring, pay, promotion, layoffs, benefits, or training on the basis of disability. Gives employees the right to organize and bargain collectively with employers. Allows workers to take a leave for personal or family medical problems. Discrimination and Equal Rights Protections Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 6 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 6: Workers Rights 94

95 Labor Unions Purpose: A union is an organization representing a group of working people. The union helps working people protect their rights. Contract: The rights and benefits of union members are guaranteed in the union contract. These can include pay rates, safe working conditions, hours of work, job security, promotions, benefits, protection against discrimination, and job education and training. The union contract is signed by representatives of the company and the union. Grievance: If a union member has a disagreement with a boss, she or he may file a grievance. Representation: When there is a disagreement in the workplace involving a union member, a union representative may speak for the union member. Members: Union members are women and men, people of all races, religions, nationalities, and sexual preferences. There can be no discrimination in union membership. Dues: Union members pay money every month to cover the costs of the union. General Information: According to one survey in 1988, of 101,700,000 workers in the United States, 17,002,000, or 17%, were union members. Labor Unions Section III: Occupational Exploration, Lesson 6 Page 1 Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE & ESOL Classroom Section III, Lesson 6: Workers Rights 95

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97 Section IV Career Planning Skills